For those of you NOT from Southern California, "June Gloom" is not akin to an emotional condition like Seasonal Affective Disorder or Winter Depression such as might be experienced by someone living in Alaska during the winter months with no sunlight to speak of.
"June Gloom" is a Southern California term for a weather pattern that results in cloudy, overcast skies with cool temperatures during the late spring and early summer."
My first experience with June Gloom was the summer of 1982. It was early May and I was 21 years old and had just transfered from the Virginia Air National Guard to Active Duty Air Force. I had mixed feelings about my first duty assignment, March Air Force Base, in Southern California. However I was going to make the best of it. Being 21, the first thing that came to my mind was I would need a good sun tan to fit in when I arrived. I had a month and so I was out in the sun at every opportunity slow roasting myself so that I would not look out of place when I arrived in sunny Southern California. The Virginia weather cooperated and by the time I had to leave on the 2nd of June I had a reasonably good tan.
However, when I arrived in Southern California on June second of that year, I landed right in the middle of one of the rainiest years on record for the region and it was June Gloomy all over the place. I was the only one within sight on the Air Force Base with a tan. It was a full two weeks before I saw my first day of sunshine. I didn't mind a little rain and cloud cover but the downside was that by the time the sun came out my beautiful tan had peeled and faded completely. The upside was that no one else had a tan either so I still fit in as well as a conservative young man from Virginia could in this radically different environment.
My second experience with "June Gloom" was of course this month during our trip back out to California. We had promised Liam a trip back to visit all of his friends and everybody's Uncle John, famous for my "What I Learned From My Uncle John" series, was having his 80th birthday celebration. So Maureen, Liam and I used that as an excuse for us all to go back for what might be our "one last visit." For about two weeks prior, while preparing for the trip and packing, Maureen stated several times that she wouldn't mind a little "June Gloom" if that meant we could avoid the worst of the Southern California heat. You see we have quite acclimated to the Western North Carolina (WNC) mountain weather but still vaguely remember the blistering heat that can come in waves in Southern California. But with all that talk of June Gloom, guess who didn't pack for a little cooler beach weather? This isn't the first trip Maureen and I have taken where Maureen has had to go out and purchase some climate appropriate garments after we arrived at our destination. Hmmmm! I'm starting to see a pattern.
So the beach stayed overcast and very pleasant by my estimation for the whole trip. Maureen had the forethought to rent a house practically on the beach right by Balboa pier for the week. Yes, it was a little more expensive than we might otherwise spend for a vacation rental but the theory was to avoid spending our entire week parked on the 91 freeway trying to visit everyone individually. Instead we just let everyone know where we were and put out an open invitation to "come spend the day at the beach." That way everyone else spent a little time on the freeway and we were able to avoid spending the bulk of our week driving. And, we all got to "spend a day at the beach" together!
The one planned exception was Thursday where we drove in to see a couple of friends that we new couldn't make the trip to the ocean. I was also the lunch program for the Corona Host Lions where I continue to hold an Associate Membership. If you've been keeping up with this blog then you know my program. It was bits and pieces of all our experiences over the past two years since our departure.
And of course, one of the two main reasons for our visit. Uncle John's birthday was a surprise affair for the most part. Of course one of the biggest surprises was that Shirley was paying for everyone. Our dinner for John that Thursday was at The Summit House, a VERY nice restaurant in Fullerton, California. When he discovered that Shirley was paying I heard John comment, "I didn't know I had so much money." And of course my retort was, "you don't anymore!" Friends came in from all over the US to see Uncle John on his 80th, Arizona, Oregon, North Carolina and I don't know where else. I could only hope that that many people think as highly of me down the road!
Each of Uncle John's birthday events went off as planned over the weekend; first the dinner on Thursday, the limo ride to lunch on the roof at Ruby's on the pier, the Wild Goose (John Wayne's yacht) tour, the pizza party and finally the neighborhood ice cream social, made this a birthday to remember. We kid about how much money we all speculate that our Uncle John has but with Aunt Shirley at his side and all of his friends around him, our Uncle John is truly one of the "rich" among us. Maureen, Liam, and I hope you had a great birthday and it was great to see you again Uncle John. And you really do need to come out and see us. Bring Aunt Shirley too if you can manage it.
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate painting! I'm sure I must have. As soon as we returned from our vacation I had the task of staining our 900+ square feet of deck waiting for me. I had power washed the deck twice before we left but could not get the weather to cooperate. We got home Friday morning early (actually Thursday night very late) and I had already scheduled to drive (half way) to Virginia on Saturday and Maureen and I had guests coming on Sunday. So I sucked it up, got my Hudson sprayer out, and went to work treating the deck. My window was so tight that I didn't bother masking off any non-porous surfaces so I'm left with a bit of cleanup from over-spray, but I got the job done in the small window available. The deck came out fairly nice but I still have that cleanup waiting for me.
Our guests were John & Veronica O'Doherty. We had dinner with them Wednesday night at BJ's in Corona, California and then breakfast with them on Monday morning in Weaverville, North Carolina. We had a great visit, hit a few pubs and did all the touristy things here in WNC, at least as much as we could fit in during their brief stay.
On a completely unrelated topic, I was thinking of getting Buddy a playmate. You know, go down to Brother Wolf and adopt another dog to keep him company when we are out and about. Having two dogs is no more inconvenient than having one. But it looks as if Buddy has already made friends with the neighbors by the look of the video that Addison got while watching Buddy at the house while we were in California.
Speaking of Buddy, I let him out last night at my mom's house just before bedtime. Buddy took off like a shot out the door which is not like him. All I could think of was the family of skunks in the neighborhood that mom keeps telling me about. I went out after him and he ran back by me in the dark. I couldn't tell if he was chasing something or actually had it in his mouth, that's how close he was. I yelled, Buddy stopped, and then the motion sensor light came on. Sure enough, it was a baby skunk making its way around the corner of the house. How Buddy managed not to get sprayed I'll never know. That's one disaster I'm happy to have avoided.
On a completely unrelated topic, I was thinking of getting Buddy a playmate. You know, go down to Brother Wolf and adopt another dog to keep him company when we are out and about. Having two dogs is no more inconvenient than having one. But it looks as if Buddy has already made friends with the neighbors by the look of the video that Addison got while watching Buddy at the house while we were in California.
Speaking of Buddy, I let him out last night at my mom's house just before bedtime. Buddy took off like a shot out the door which is not like him. All I could think of was the family of skunks in the neighborhood that mom keeps telling me about. I went out after him and he ran back by me in the dark. I couldn't tell if he was chasing something or actually had it in his mouth, that's how close he was. I yelled, Buddy stopped, and then the motion sensor light came on. Sure enough, it was a baby skunk making its way around the corner of the house. How Buddy managed not to get sprayed I'll never know. That's one disaster I'm happy to have avoided.
As I write this I find myself in Mechanicsville, Virginia waiting for our brief rain storm to subside so I can finish power-washing my mom's house. Her garage desperately needs painting. Did I mention how much I hate painting! Tomorrow, back on the road with "Traveling Buddy" heading for home. I know when you're retired you are kind of always on "vacation." But I think I need a break!
Until next time, take care!
Rick
